for one righteous man
by MissingMommy
Summary: During the fight to prevent the Apocalypse, Castiel learns where his loyalties lie. :: Castiel&Samandriel, for Amber.


For my lovely Amber. She is really a saint.

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He looks down on humanity, day after day. Their life spans the moments that it takes him to blink. It's short; it's fleeting. It's over well before it could start.

There's something beautiful about it, though, he thinks. Beautiful in the way that they only had a short amount of time to live. Beautiful in the way that it could be over at any second, and they would never know when.

"Castiel."

The voice causes him to exchange views, peering out another pair of eyes. Behind him stands one of the Angels from the Garrison.

"Balthazar," he greets, returning his gaze to his fourth face.

His companion is nearly silent as he comes to stand beside Castiel. "It is about to begin. Are you ready?"

"We are going to Hell to rescue one human," Castiel replies. He eyes Balthazar from his third face. "Why are we risking our lives for a human? Their lives are fleeting anyways."

Balthazar shrugs. "Michael will allow this human to break the first seal and start the Apocalypse. If there is any hope for peace up here, the Apocalypse must be avoided and saving that human will be the key."

The silence between them is heavy. Heavy with the knowledge that this attack will not be easy. They are both more likely to get killed than to see the end of this mission.

"If we don't -"

Balthazar's laugh interrupts him. He clamps a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "We will both survive. And the first round will be on the person who pulls this human from Perdition."

A smile finds it's way to Castiel's fourth face. "I will take you up on that."

.

"The mission, Castiel!"

He hears her, hears them all through the ears of his fifth face. But he ignores them. Because on the ground - is that even a ground? - is lying Balthazar. His magnificent copper colored wings are spread out in only the way a dead Angel spreads their wings.

He feels several emotions rush through him at once. And in the end, it's the weight of the mission that causes him to stand. He looks down upon Balthazar again. "Forgive me," he whispers.

He turns away, his heart heavy.

He doesn't remember the rest of the way to Perdition. His body does the motions, fighting and working his way to the goal, while his mind is too far away.

A blinding white aura forces his thoughts back. He's never seen a brighter soul than this one. A warmth floods his body.

After making sure the room is clear, Castiel puts his hands on either side of the soul. Righteousness pours into his body. The thoughts of Balthazar leave his body, causing him to only think of this human.

For the first time in a long while, Castiel remembers why his father created humanity in the first place.

.

They don't hold a service for Balthazar, for any of the dozens of Angels that fell during the raid of Perdition. Castiel learned centuries ago, when he was younger than the new moon, that Angels never paid respect for the dead.

He stands in the spot he did before the Raid and watches humanity. And for the first time, he thinks that it would've been better to be with the humans. Maybe Balthazar would've had a service, had respects paid. Maybe Balthazar's death would've mattered.

"They will start thinking you are going to Fall like Anna if you keep this up."

Castiel doesn't have to exchange views to know who is behind him. "Evening, Samandriel." He is reminded of Balthazar as Samandriel comes to stand beside him. "Why are you here?"

"You're not going to Fall, are you?" his companion asks bluntly.

He peers at Samandriel through his third face. The Angel next to him looks younger; probably due to the fact he wasn't a part of the effort to save Dean Winchester. He hasn't been apart of the war yet.

He is reminded of those he lost - of Balthazar who died for them, and of Anna who died for humanity. And maybe humanity is worth fighting for. Maybe this Dean Winchester is a cause worth living for.

"No," he replies finally, "I'm not going to Fall."

Relief floods all of Samandriel's faces, most noticeably his second face, the human one. Castiel is always stunned by the amount of emotion that can be seen on a human's face.

Samandriel stands next to Castiel in silence, watching humanity with him.

.

"The weapons," Uriel growls. "They are gone."

Castiel is standing in the middle of the room, flickering his gazes between his faces, his golden wings flapping restlessly behind him. The room that holds all the weapons of Heaven is empty. The weapons are dangerous, and there is only one person he can think of that would steal them. That person is dead though.

"Who had access?" Castiel meets the dark eyes of Uriel's monkey face with his first face.

He hesitates. "Hester and Balthazar."

Both Uriel and Castiel knew Hester wouldn't take the weapons; she has no reason to take them. But, on the other hand, Balthazar was dead. Castiel had seen him die.

How could weapons be stolen if the only two Angels with the capability couldn't or wouldn't steal them? It's a question that Castiel pondered for a while.

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"There are six hundred seals."

Castiel closes his eyes, all of them; it's the onlyoutward sign of his distress. There are numerous possibilities for Lilith to break the seals. And of the five hundred and ninety-nine left, she only has to break sixty-six. He knows the numbers of Angels verse the seals. There aren't enough Angels for the amount.

Opening the eyes on his fourth face - his prefered one - he stares levelly at Uriel. "We can't defend all of them," he responds.

"We defend the ones that they are more likely to attempt to break," Uriel says. His charcoal wings flap relentlessly behind him.

Castiel shakes his heads. "Even then, we are still leaving a hundred of them vulnerable. We would lose this battle before it's even started doing that."

The glare that Castiel gets from Uriel's tiger face is nearly deadly. "What are you suggesting? We wait until they start attempting to break them before we act?"

Before he can answer, another Angel does. "We have two hundred and fifty Angels loyal to the cause. We patrol each seal. We set alarms to know when one seal is vulnerable. We'll immediately send out a team to deal with that."

The tone of the Angel's voice is final. "There are rumors, however, that require immediate attention. Reapers have been mentioning the raise of the dead. The human brought back from Perdition seems to be at the center of it," she continues.

Castiel tilts his heads. "That sounds like the Rise of the Witness. It's the only reason why it would target him specifically."

The Angel nods. "Exactly why I want you to investigate it." She waves her hand.

Taking it as a dismissal, Castiel looks out his first face, meeting the dark eyes of Uriel's fifth face. Silently, he leaves.

.

"She broke the seal," Castiel reports.

The Angel raises her heads, questioningly. "How?"

Castiel is silent for a few moments. "It was only a spell to raise those spirits. The area she did it in must've been Angel-proof. I searched twice before I saw the spirits myself."

The lips on her human face press into a fine line. And the silence between them is long. Finally, her human face relaxes. "I'm sure you did everything you could to prevent this," she says. "We lost one. There are other battles to fight."

.

"Reports have come in that Lilith is trying to raise Samhain."

Castiel isn't even halfway in the room before his supervisor is briefing him. Uriel stands next to him, his hands clasped behind his back.

"And it looks like that man is at the center of it again."

"We will kill the witch before she raise Samhain," Castiel assures her. "No matter what."

The Angel shakes her heads. "No," she says quickly. "Go to Dean Winchester. And let him lead you. Let's see how the righteous man leads."

Uriel's hands fall to his sides as he steps forward. "You expect us to let a hairless monkey lead us?" His voice is dangerously low, anger dripping in every syllable.

Her hands slam against the desk as she stands quickly. She glowered at Uriel; her stare unrelenting. "I expect you to do as commanded, Uriel. And I have commanded that you will tell Dean Winchester the both of you plan on taking out the _entire_ town for one witch, and to follow his commands. That is what I expect. Am I clear?"

Uriel takes a step back, deflating. "Yes."

"Very well," she says. "Then go."

Castiel doesn't bother to look at Uriel as he reappears in a motel room.

.

"The seal broke."

There is no questioning tone; his supervisor knows it already. But Castiel finds himself nodding regardless. "They were unable to stop Samhain from rising."

The Angel is silent for a moment, eyeing Castiel and Uriel through her third face. "He chose to save those people, even if failing meant a seal would be broken. The righteous path," she murmurs to herself. She is clearly pleased with the news. "He is the one that is going to end the Apocalypse. Watch him until we have news of another seal."

Peering out his second face, Castiel notices anger in Uriel's posture. But Uriel nods and, together, they leave.

.

"Another seal has been broken," she says as Castiel enters the room.

Castiel tilts his heads slightly, peering through his fourth face. "And we weren't notified?"

She walks around her desk, leans against it with her arms folding over her body. "The alarm didn't sound. I would like you to investigate this. Report back with your findings."

Castiel blinks out of the office.

.

"It's been tampered with," Castiel announces as he returns. "It was disabled."

The Angel is silent for a few moments, contemplating. "Are you sure?"

Castiel stares levelly at her. "Yes. I searched for possible causes three times. There was none."

"You're saying that there are some of our loyal brothers and sisters are siding with Michael and Raphael now?"

"Yes."

"Very well," she says. "Take a few trusted Angels with you and reset the traps on all the remaining seals." Before Castiel leaves, she adds, "I don't have to tell you not to speak of this to anyone besides those few, do I?"

Castiel shakes his heads and disappears.

.

"We are losing," Castiel announces.

Dean turns away from the water to glance at Castiel. "How many seals have been broken?"

The reply takes a while, but Castiel finally admits, "Too many. And too many Angels are dying because of this."

The silence between them is heavy. It is Dean who breaks it. "I know we don't exactly have a good track record, but we can work with the Angels to prevent the breaking of some of these seals."

"It's not that easy, Dean," Castiel responds. "There's a Civil War going on upstairs. The Angels that are trying to prevent the Apocalypse are far outnumbered by the ones that want it. I'm not sure who to trust anymore."

"You can trust me, Cas."

Castiel stares out at the water. He wants to believe that he can trust Dean, but the last time he trusted someone, they died.

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"Uriel will be commanding the Garrison, now," the Angel says. She's leaning against her table with her arms crossed. "It has come to our attention that you're becoming too close to the human in your charge."

Castiel is standing still as a stone. The only human in his charge is Dean.

"It will be fixed because that human is no longer in your charge. Your first priority is to handle the seals." Her voice is firm, final.

Castiel just nods, knowing that fighting it would do him no good.

.

As he looks down upon humanity, for the first time, Castiel sees the appeal that Anna saw. Angels are greedy and heartless. No wonder why their father created humanity. They may be imperfect but they try. It's inspiring.

"You're not thinking of Falling, are you?"

Castiel peers out from his fifth face. "I told you already, Samandriel; I'm not going to Fall."

Samandriel looks down up humanity. "I wouldn't blame you if you did," he assures him.

Castiel glares. "Don't say that. That's blasphemy."

"We're losing this war, Castiel," Samandriel says, finally. "They talk about it when they think I can't hear. The Apocalypse is coming, and that human is at the center of it. We both know what righteousness will do to a human."

Castiel meets Samandriel's hawk face. "I've been demoted," he informs his companion. "I've been informed that I will no longer have charge over Dean Winchester. There is nothing I can do about that."

Samandriel smiles. "Only the righteous man that started this can stop it."

He doesn't have to ask to know what Samandriel means.

.

"We need to figure out who is killing the Angels," his former supervisor says.

Castiel doesn't know why he still attends these meetings. He had brought Uriel along because he was his second-in-command, but he isn't Uriel's second. He supposes that he's here because Uriel likes to flaunt what he has received.

"We have Alastair in our custody. Our most skilled Intelligent Angels have been unable to get answers out of him. We need to get this information before more Angels are killed," she continues. "We need that human to agree to gather this intel for us."

Castiel heads start shaking before he realizes what he's doing. "You want to put Hell's most skilled torturer in the same room as our only chance at ending this?" His voice is laced with barely contained fury.

"Yes, Castiel, I do," she responds easily. "Time is not on our side. We need this information and that human is the only one who could possibly get them for us. It is not like I am planning on putting him in danger. Alastair will be in a devil's trap and secured to concrete. He will be safe."

He agrees to it because it's expected. But they are putting Dean Winchester's life in danger doing this. He can feel it deep within his body.

.

It's been far too long since Castiel has felt this amount of anger course through his body. In fact, he doesn't remember a time he has been this furious.

As soon as the anger drains out of his body, he realizes what he's done. The Angel that once was an ally is laying before him, his charcoal wings spread out, the eyes on his six faces wide open in shock. The Angel blade falls to the ground.

But Castiel is gone before it does.

It doesn't matter how many times he kills the other Angels or for what reason, guilt climbs its way through his chest, burying itself deep within his heart. He's killing Angels, his own kind, for one man, for one righteous man.

And it's only then that he realizes how much he is willing to give up for Dean Winchester.

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A/n - I choose to end this here because it's the end of his former life, and the beginning of his new. So many thanks to Rish who helped me throughout and beta'd!


End file.
